Three Manuscripts (1) Kifāyat al-waqt li-maʿrifat al-dāʾir wa- faḍlihi wa-ʾl-samt. (2) Tashil al-miqat (3) Faraḥ Fazā

Three Manuscripts in Ottoman Turkish Bound in 1 Volume
Copied by Abdullah Seyyid Feyzullah b. Ahmad in 1166 H [1752 A.D.]
70 fol.,
20 x 13 cm.
Cardboard cover with leather spine

Order No.: MSS_118
Status: available
Price: 9 600 € (excl. VAT)

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Kifāyat al-waqt li-maʿrifat al-dāʾir wa- faḍlihi wa-ʾl-samt, also known as Risāla fī al-muqanṭarāt, 936 H [1529 AD] written in Ottoman Turkish; it deals with various aspects of geometry, trigonometry and astronomy and also mentions an astronomical instrument called rubʿ al-muqanṭarāt (astrolabe quadrant).

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Tashil al-miqat, written in Ottoman Turkish in 936 H. [1529 AD ], deals with the science of time measurement and the sine quadrant (al-rub' al-mujayyab).

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Faraḥ Fazā, dedicated to the Grand Vizier of Sultan Süleymān, Ibrāhīm Pasha, examines the construction and use of the horoscope quadrant (al-rubʿal-āfāqī), which he claims was his invention.

Mustafa ibn Ali al-Muwaqqit (died 1571, the epithet al-Muwaqqit means "the timekeeper"), also known as Müneccimbaşı Mustafa Çelebi and Koca Saatçi, was an Ottoman astronomer and author of geography from the sixteenth century. Because of his works on the science of timekeeping and practical astronomy, he is considered "the founder of the Ottoman tradition" of those fields. He was one of the pioneers of astronomy literature in Ottoman Turkish—instead of Arabic which was more common in the Islamic world—following Muhammad al-Qunawi. Since his youth he served as the muwaqqit (religious timekeeper) attached to the Mosque of Selim I in Istanbul, in which capacity he produced most of his writing. In 1560 or later he was appointed to the office of müneccimbaşı, the highest post for astronomers of the Empire.

He produced most of his works during this tenure. Instead of Arabic, the customary scientific language of the Islamic World at the time, he wrote mostly in Ottoman Turkish.This decision was made in order to popularise the field of astronomy in the Ottoman state, to make it accessible to more students, and to facilitate the mention of non-Arabic place names. Many of his works were dedicated for Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his grand viziers, possibly aimed to be used by the state bureaucracy; this application was facilitated by the use of Turkish.

Abdullah Seyyid Feyzullah was a famous calligrapher during the reign of Ahmed III. and Mahmud I. He was teached by his father Shakarzada Ahmad Efendi, followed the path of the calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah and Al-Haafız Usman especially in Naskh and Thuluth calligraphy styles and gave his best Works. He was a teacher at Topkapı Palace and worked together with Mustafa Sıdki on scientific subjects mathematics and astronomy.